Competition Law: Statutory Update

The President of India recently gave his assent to the "Competition Amendment Bill, 2023 "(CAB, 2023). Background of the Bill:

• The Bill first introduced in 2020 lapsed ;
• It was again introduced in 2022;
• It was referred to the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Finance (SCF)which suggested sweeping changes, but only few got accepted.
• Some recommendation were taken from the Competition Law Review Committee (CLRC).

CONTROVERSIES

Some select anomalies are only highlighted here as controversies

1. Penalty

The 2023 bill empowers CCI to impose a penalty of up to 10% [S.27 (b)]of the global turnover that is sales from all products or services, even if they are not related to the relevant product or relevant market.